A collection of authoritative works on British genealogy,
this data set contains page images of eleven volumes of pedigrees and lineage
records by the British publishing house Burke's Peerage. Burke's pedigrees are
easy to read, easy to follow, and easy to understand. These volumes contain detailed
lineages of prominent British families (often with connections to the United States).
Produced in collaboration with the Genealogical Publishing Company, this data
collection references approximately 429,000 individuals.

Few names are as highly regarded in English genealogy as Burke's. Not only
did the Burkes compile authoritative works on English genealogy, they also created
a unique genealogical style, specifically, a method of laying out pedigrees
in narrative form. In general, each genealogical study begins with a brief biographical
sketch followed by information about that person's lineage. Often, you'll learn
details of education, service, occupation, honors, collateral families, places
of birth, residence, death, and descriptions of arms. Also among the volumes
is the single best reference work ever published on British heraldry, The
General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, along with other
volumes of equal quality and value.

While most of the volumes included here deal with British lineages, two
of the volumes detail the lineages of American families.

Sources for Notable British Families, 1600s-1900s:

Burke's American Families with British Ancestry
by Sir John Bernard Burke
This work ranks as the most authoritative ever published on the subject
of notable American families with British ancestry. Documenting hundreds
of direct line pedigrees, it provides an honor roll of births, marriages,
and deaths in successive generations.

A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and
Extinct Peerages of the British Empire
Sir John Bernard Burke
This work describes the lineages of nearly 2,000 peerages  Dukes,
Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons  that are now extinct.
Each article begins with the exact date of the peerage's creation and
lists all known representatives of that line up to the time of the title's
extinction. Each lineage provides details on births, marriages, and
deaths but also includes a wealth of incidental detail (such as references
to military and official service, estates, occupations, and honors).

A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant
Baronetcies of England, Ireland, and Scotland
by John Burke and John Bernard Burke
This work gives the lineages of nearly 1,000 holders of the order of
Baronet whose titles were dormant or extinct by 1841. Combined with
an illustration of the Baronet's armorial bearings, each article follows
the Baronet's lineage from its beginning to its extinction. Arranged
in narrative style the lineages also provide details of education, service,
occupation, honors, collateral families, places of birth, residence,
death, and descriptions of arms.

Burke's Family Records
by Ashworth P. Burke
This work traces the descent of some 300 junior houses of the British
nobility. For those families for which clear official authority was
forthcoming, coats-of-arms were provided along with details of lineage.

A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry
by John Bernard Burke and Ashworth P. Burke
This two-volume set gives the lineages of many of the leading colonial
families of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, South Africa,
and other parts of the British Empire. Among the Canadian families covered
are a number of American Loyalist families, including the Stocktons
of New Jersey, Macnab and Robinson of Virginia, Bayard of New York,
and Coffin and Jones of Massachusetts.

The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales
by John Bernard Burke
Perhaps the supreme reference work in British heraldry, the range of
this work is encyclopedic. Alphabetically arranged by family name, it
contains approximately 70,000 descriptions of British coats-of-arms.
In addition, it includes sections illustrating Royal heraldry and the
British orders of knighthood, a dictionary of terms, an illustrated
glossary, and an extensive list of mottoes.

A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great
Britain and Ireland
by John Bernard Burke (reprinted with George Ormerod's "Index to
Pedigrees in Burke's Commoners")
For some time, this four-volume work has been the standard genealogical
guide to families in Great Britain and Ireland who held territory or
official rank, but who did not hold heritable honors. In the narrative
style characteristic of a Burke publication, each genealogical study
begins with a brief biographical sketch followed by information about
that person's immediate family. From there, the lineage continues, commencing
with the earliest ancestor of record and proceeding through successive
generations, noting births, marriages, deaths, and other details relevant
to the pedigree.

The Prominent Families of the United States of America
by Arthur Meredyth Burke
Like other works produced by Burke's, this volume lists the descent
of historically prominent American families. Thought to be one of the
most authoritative volumes of its kind, it includes hundreds of pedigrees.

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